Adela, countess of Blois (c. 1067–1137), princess, was in all probability the youngest daughter of William I, the Conqueror (1027/8–1087), and his queen, Matilda of Flanders (d. 1083). Adela's birth date is usually calculated as c.1060–62, but panegyric poetry written for her during adulthood suggests that her father was a crowned king at the time of her birth. It is most likely that ...
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Elisabeth van Houts
Adelida [Adeliza] (d. before 1113), princess, was probably the eldest of the daughters of William I, the Conqueror (1027/8–1087), and Matilda of Flanders (d. 1083). As Adelida she heads most lists of the names of the Conqueror's daughters, including the one in the mortuary roll of ...
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Elisabeth van Houts
Ælfthryth (d. 929), princess, was the youngest of three daughters of King Alfred (d. 899) and Queen Ealhswith, daughter of Æthelred Mucel, ealdorman of the 'Gaini'. She also had two brothers. According to her father's biographer Asser, she was educated with her brother ...
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Anne [née Anne Hyde], duchess of York (1637–1671), first wife of James II, was born on 12 March 1637 at Cranbourne Lodge, Windsor Park, the eldest daughter of Sir Edward Hyde (1609–1674), created earl of Clarendon in 1661, and Frances, daughter of ...
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Anne, duchess of York (1637–1671) by Sir Peter Lely, c. 1660 Scottish National Portrait Gallery
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Anthony Tuck
Beaufort [married names Ferrers, Neville], Joan, countess of Westmorland (1379
The dates of birth of all four children are uncertain, though there may be some significance in the pattern of gifts from ...
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Michael K. Jones and Malcolm G. Underwood
Beaufort, Margaret [known as Lady Margaret Beaufort], countess of Richmond and Derby (1443–1509), royal matriarch, was born on 31 May 1443, the daughter and heir of John Beaufort, duke of Somerset (1404–1444), from his marriage to Margaret (d. 1482), widow of ...
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Margaret Beaufort, countess of Richmond and Derby (1443–1509) by Pietro Torrigiano, 1513 [tomb effigy] © Dean and Chapter of Westminster
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Bloet, Nest [Nest of Wales, Nest the Welshwoman] (d. 1224/5), royal mistress, was the daughter of Iorwerth ab Owain, lord of Caerleon, and Angharad, daughter of Uthred, bishop of Llandaff. She was also known as Nest of Wales or Nest the Welshwoman. She married before 1175 ...
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Beverley A. Murphy
Blount [married names Tailboys, Fiennes de Clinton], Elizabeth (c. 1500–1539x41), royal mistress, was the second daughter of John Blount of Kinlet (1484–1531) and his wife, Katherine (1483–1540), heir of Sir Hugh Peshall of Knightley and his wife, Isabel Stanley of Elford...
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Christopher Harper-Bill
Cecily [Cicely] [née Cecily Neville], duchess of York (1415–1495), Yorkist matriarch, was born on 3 May 1415, eighteenth child of Ralph Neville, first earl of Westmorland (c. 1364–1425), and the tenth from his second marriage, to Joan Beaufort (d. 1440). Some time before 18 October 1424 she was betrothed to ...
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Rosemary Horrox
Cecily, Viscountess Welles (1469–1507), princess, was the third daughter of Edward IV (1442–1483) and Elizabeth, née Woodville (c. 1437–1492). Born on 20 March 1469, she was presumably named after her paternal grandmother. In 1473 a marriage alliance between England and Scotland, by which ...
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Nicholas Hooper
Christina (fl. 1057–1093), princess and Benedictine nun, was the (perhaps younger) daughter of Edward Ætheling (d. 1057), son of Edmund Ironside (d. 1016), and Agatha (d. in or after 1070), a kinswoman of the emperor Heinrich II or Heinrich III. She was born in ...
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Churchill [married name Godfrey], Arabella (1649–1730), mistress of King James II, was born at Ashe House, Devon, on 28 February 1649, and baptized at St Michael's Church, Musbury, Devon, on 16 March 1649. She was the daughter of Sir Winston Churchill (bap. 1620, d. 1688)...
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T. A. Archer
revised by Elizabeth Hallam
Clifford, Rosamund [called Fair Rosamund] (b. before 1140
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Michael Jones
Constance, duchess of Brittany (c. 1161–1201), was the only daughter and sole heir of Conan (IV), duke of Brittany (c. 1135–1171), and Margaret, daughter of Henry, earl of Huntingdon (d. 1152), and Ada de Warenne (d. 1178), and sister to Malcolm IV...
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Olive Baldwin and Thelma Wilson
Davis [Davies; married name Paisible], Mary [Moll] (c. 1651–1708), actress and royal mistress, was said to be 'a bastard of Collonell Howard, my Lord Barkeshire' (Pepys, 9.24), a phrase which is more likely to refer to Thomas Howard (...
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Eleanor [née Eleanor Cobham], duchess of Gloucester (c. 1400–1452), alleged sorcerer, was the second wife of Humphrey, duke of Gloucester, and attracted notoriety when convicted and imprisoned for treasonable necromancy in 1441. The fourth child of Sir Reginald (or Reynold) Cobham of ...
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Eleanor [Eleanor of Brittany], suo jure duchess of Brittany (1182x4–1241), princess, was the elder daughter of Geoffrey, duke of Brittany, and Constance, duchess of Brittany, and sister of Arthur, duke of Brittany. At her father's death in August 1186 she was heir to the duchy, and ...
